Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Quality Education For All: State Aid Is Still The Issue, Anthony Ashbolt

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

The fundamental measure of education in all spheres is its contribution to a democratic society. To ensure that the Australian education system creates what Benjamin Barber calls ‘an aristocracy of everyone', we need grand spending plans. We also need to embark on a mission to rescue the public education system, which has been sidelined during our years of transferring funds to private schools. The public realm and the importance of education within it was a critical foundation stone of the fledgling Australian state. The same is also true of the USA, where even someone with residual monarchist tendencies like John …

Long Tan: The Politics Of Forgetting, Anthony Ashbolt

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

The 40th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Long Tan have been both excessive and tendentious. The rehabilitation of Vietnam veterans now serves to reinforce amnesia about Vietnam itself. Such amnesia serves the interests of policy makers in Canberra. Far from the immoral imperialist venture that it was, the American war in Vietnam now functions as a salutary reminder of Australian heroism. The noble warrior is recreated before our eyes: spurned and trashed by the anti-war movement and the Government, labelled a baby-killer by people in the street or the pub, thrown in the gutter to fester and die of …

Wollongong The Brave, Anthony Ashbolt

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Two months ago, Illawarra ABC Radio presenter Peter Hand was stood down for alleged bias after a complaint from a Liberal Senator. Anthony Ashbolt examines this extraordinary case of ABC capitulation to Government pressure 'Farewell Aunty Jack' may have been a signal of things to come. That bitter-sweet conclusion to an ABC show that placed Wollongong on the television map in the 1970s, captured a sense that the certainties of the past were fading away and a brave new world was soon to commence. More than 30 years later, Wollongong the Brave has become a little known frontline in the …

The Myths We Are Taught About Schools, Anthony Ashbolt

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Certain mythologies pervade the assault upon public education. One of these is that Labor's education policy at the 2004 election damaged the party electorally. I will explore this next week. First, however, I will address a more recent intervention in the schooling debate which has received much attention. Emeritus Professor Brian Caldwell, publicizing his book published by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), has pointed repeatedly to an AC Nielsen survey conducted for the ACER showing that a significant number of public school parents would send their children to private schools if they could. The survey, from July 2004, …

From Underground Cult To Public Policy For Citizens: Democratizing An Open Source Artifact At A Policy Level In South Korea, Kwang-Suk Lee

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Purpose - This study explores the feasible use of free and open source software (FOSS) at a policy level in South Korea, which is reacting against being locked into only one technology company, Microsoft.

Methodology/Approach - Based on participatory democratic theory, this paper suggests that the normative role of the state is as a public mediator in the development of an IT infrastructure encouraging greater freedom of choice and the establishment of an electronic environment — such as the community-based use of software technology — for citizens to use easily and freely.

Findings - South Korean policymakers have explored FOSS …

"An Introduction", Guy R. Davidson

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

This issue presents a forum on Australian Social Attitudes: The First Report, a publication that presents the expressed opinions of 4300 Australian adults on a range of issues from family, work, politics, identity and nation, economics and globalization, media, and crime.

Book Review - Theresa Coletti: Mary Magdalene And The Drama Of Saints: Theater, Gender, And Religion In Late Medieval England, Louise D'Arcens

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Theresa Coletti’s Mary Magdalene and the Drama of Saints is a persuasively argued and rigorously researched study that examines the late medieval English career of medieval Christianity’s “other Mary.” Coletti argues for the significance of the figure of Mary Magdalene within traditions of medieval insular piety dating back to Bede, and more specifically within vernacular East Anglian culture of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Taking as her main focus the early sixteenthcentury Digby saint play Mary Magdalene, Coletti succeeds in demonstrating the many striking ways in which “late medieval East Anglia’s feminine religious culture and commitment to sacred drama …

What Is The Solution? Moving Cultural Diversity To The Centre Of Journalism Debates, Tanja Dreher

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Like Ghassan Nakhoul, I want to look at the recent open season on the Lebanese community in the Sydney press, following the fatal shootings at Greenacre in October. The news coverage of these events provides us with a good opportunity to assess the impact of considerable public debate and research about reporting cultural diversity that took place in the second half of 2001, in the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Centre in new York.

Authenticating Electronic Editions, Phillip Berrie, Paul Eggert, Chris Tiffin, Graham Barwell

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

A book is generally seen as a trustworthy carrier of text because, once printed, text cannot be changed without leaving obvious physical evidence. This stability is accompanied by a corresponding inflexibility. Apart from handwritten marginal annotation, there is little augmentation or manipulation available to the user of a printed text. Electronic texts are far more malleable. They can be modified with great ease and speed. This modification may be careful and deliberate (e.g., editing, adding markup for a new scholarly purpose), it may be whimsical or mendacious (e.g., forgery), or it may be accidental (e.g., mistakes made while editing, or …

The Art Of Emptiness: Buddhist Nature In Picture Books Of Miyazawa Kenji's Donguri To Yamaneko (Wildcat And The Acorns), Helen Kilpatrick

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933), the author of Donguri to Yamaneko [3], is recognised as one of "the most imaginative spinner[s] of children's stories, of twentieth-century Japan" (Satô xvii). Moreover, Kenji, as he is commonly known, is probably Japan's most renowned Buddhist writer and his work is now taught in schools and universities. [4]He was writing at a time when Japan was undergoing rapid modernisation and much of his work, including Donguri, was created as a protest against the spiritual desolation associated with rampant industrialisation, commodification and consumerism. Donguri should be considered in this context as the story ultimately foregrounds a communion …

Getting To Know Others: An Experience Of Students Of Japanese Through Online Chat Sessions, Ritsuko Saito

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

When learning a foreign language, online chat can be used to communicate with native speakers of the target language and to obtain information about that country. Interaction through such a medium often offers the only opportunity for learners to communicate with native speakers, particularly in regional areas where the learning environment provides limited access to the cultural activities and resources on offer in more metropolitan areas. This paper presents an experience of students of Japanese in a regional university through online chat. It examines the information students get to know about Japan and the Japanese and analyses how opinions of …

Post-Communist Russia And Anti-Americanism: Has The West Lost Russian Public Opinion?, Stephen M. Brown

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Post-Communist Russia’s place in the international system has constituted a matter of intense academic interest since the end of the Cold War. In 2006, the relationship between the West and Russia cooled markedly in response to changing political alliances among the successor states of the former Soviet Union and Russia’s alleged use of its oil and gas resources for political purposes. Richard Pipes has warned that the West should not trust Russia because both its political elites and public opinion are hostile to Western values. This paper will argue that public opinion in Russia has been, and remains, mostly favourable …

The Soviet Legacy And Leader Cults In Post-Communist Central Asia: The Example Of Turkmenistan, Stephen M. Brown, Konstantin Sheiko

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

[Extract] While a new wave of democratic revolutions was widely expected in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, progress towards democratisation has proven slow. In many parts of the world, including Central Asia, victory in what Francis Fukuyama claimed was the last of history’s battles has proved elusive.2 Perhaps the most striking feature of the politics of Central Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 has been the durability of the leader cults that have grown up around Presidents Nasultan Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan, Islam Karimov in Uzbekistan, and Saparmurat Niyazov in Turkmenistan.

Srv & Nva: Valorizing Social Roles Through Nonviolent Action, Brian Martin

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Repression, Backfire, And The Theory Of Transformative Events, David Hess, Brian Martin

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Repression sometimes can lead to greater movement mobilization: repressive events that are perceived as unjust have the potential to generate enormous public outrage against those seen as responsible. One result of repression - backfire - can contribute to the understanding of the conditions under which some repressive events may become transformative for social movements. Three case studies that highlight the processes involved in backfire are examined: the 1930 Salt March in India, in particular the beatings at Dharasana, that mobilized popular support for independence; the 1991 massacre in Dili, East Timor, which stimulated a massive expansion in international support for …

How Nonviolence Works, Brian Martin

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

1. There is ample evidence from historical examples that nonviolent action can be an effective method of social action. Examples from recent decades include the toppling of Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 through "people power," the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989, the thwarting of a coup in the Soviet Union in 1991, the ending of apartheid in South Africa in the early 1990s, the resignation of President Suharto due to popular pressure in Indonesia in 1998, and the overthrow of Serbian ruler Milosevic in 2000 (Ackerman and DuVall 2000).

Tactics Against Sexual Harassment: The Role Of Backfire, Gregory Scott, Brian Martin

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

To oppose sexual harassment, it is useful to understand tactics commonly used by perpetrators. A useful approach to tactics is through the concept of backfire: if an action is perceived as unjust and information about it is communicated to receptive audiences, it has the capacity to cause outrage and consequently backfire on the perpetrator. Perpetrators regularly use five types of tactics to inhibit outrage: (1) cover-up of the action; (2) devaluation of the target; (3) reinterpretation of the events; (4) use of official channels to give the appearance of justice; and (5) intimidation and bribery of targets, witnesses and others. …

Language(S) And Identity(Ies) In French Society, Henri A. Jeanjean

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Most discourses about France seem to imply that France is a homogeneous, monolingual, monocultural country. This is denying the cultural and linguistic diversity of the country. Regions were conquered throughout the centuries and the various regimes have always tried to eradicate regional languages and cultures, imposing French as the sole language, a powerful tool of colonisation. Resistance to the linguistic and cultural genocides have always been present. Until the second half of the 20th century this resistance was expressed only in linguistic terms. Recent events such as the Algerian war led to a new militancy and a political awareness slowly …

The 'New' Middle Class In India: A Re-Assessment, Timothy J. Scrase

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

[extract] This paper seeks to go some way towards unravelling the impact of neo-liberal policies on classbased cultures in India. Specifically, it focuses on the experiences and worldviews of the middle classes, the class group or fraction said to have expanded greatly in recent times and to have been the main beneficiaries of the neo-liberal reforms of the Indian economy instigated in the early 1990s. In this paper, we explore two dimensions of these changes: work and discourses of efficiency; and the impact of these reforms on gender and class relations.

The Occident In The Orient Or The Orient In The Occident?: Reception Of Said's Orientalism In Japan, Yoko Harada

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

[extract] “Although Edward does not appear in the film, he exists in every aspect of it” commented Mariam Said, a widow of Edward W. Said (Siglo 2006, Yuri 2006a, p. 30). In April and May 2006, a documentary film called Edward W. Said: Out of Place was screened in Tokyo. The film was produced by a Japanese film director Sato Makoto who visited places and people in the Middle East with the guide of Said’s well known autobiography Out of Place: A Memoir (Siglo 2006). Sato starts his journey from Lebanon, where Said is now resting. His camera catches scenery …

Between The Lines: An Analysis Of The Language Of Indonesian Reporting Of Military Clashes In Aceh, Philip Kitley

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

[extract] Kompas Cyber Media is the online presence of the leading Indonesian daily Kompas and it was on the small screen that I first read about the kidnapping on 29 June, 2003 of television journalist Ersa Siregar, camera operator Ferry Santoro, their driver Rahmatsyah and two female passengers, sisters Safrida and Soraya. The online version of this drawn out story of reporters hostage to the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, GAM) stripped down the news stories that appeared in the broadsheet. I was struck by the more than usually limited information value of the hostage headlines and stories from …

Sold And Stolen: Domestic 'Slaves' And The Rhetoric Of 'Protection' In Darwin And Singapore During The 1920s And 1930s, Claire Lowrie

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Introduction: This paper contemplates the similarities in the working lives of two very different girls.1 It focuses on part descent Aboriginal girls of Darwin working as domestic servants in European homes, and the mui tsai or girl slaves2 of Singapore working for Chinese families. These girls share the common experience of being removed from their families, trafficked a great distance from their homes and forced into domestic service. This paper will consider the common governmental responses to these girls in terms of “protection”. For the mui tsai protection involved potential rescue from forced domestic service. For part-Aboriginal girls, protection resulted …

Re/Constructing South Asia, Paul Sharrad

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

[extract] In her early essays on life in India as an expatriate writer, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala describes her cycle of emotional responses to living abroad. Firstly, everything in India is wonderful; secondly everything about India is appalling; thirdly, reality is a mix of the two. In her model of the Westerner doing Asian Studies, at least in the Indian context, the wheel keeps turning from delighted fascination to extreme irritation to more moderate feelings that are nonetheless never a state of completely stable harmony (An Experience of India).

Towards A New Model Of Foreign Policy Change, Joakim Eidenfalk

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Why do states change their foreign policy? Foreign Policy Change is a relatively young field, which has produced a number of theoretical models in order to explain what lies behind changes in a state’s foreign policy. This paper presents a recently developed foreign policy change model, containing independent, intervening and dependent variables. The independent variables are divided up into domestic and international sources of change, with nine further subcategories, which aim at identifying the factors that may or may not influence a government in its foreign policy decision-making. The next step investigated by the paper is the intervening variable, that …

Living In The Shadow Of The Hegemon: Philippine-Australian Relations And The Global War Against Terrorism, Peter Sales

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

[extract] Studies of Philippine-Australian affairs over the years – and there have been some - concentrate on particular aspects of the relationship or else examine the topic within a broader Asia-Pacific context. The former include the Mail-Order-Bride issue, incidents like the Vivian Solon case, and shared interest in transnational crime; the latter have been mainly preoccupied with ASEAN and other regional partnerships as well as the role of the great powers. For the Philippines, Australia has become a southern alternative to the United States as a place of hope and opportunity. The White Australia Policy and the neocolonial connection of …

"If You Can Keep Your Head When All About You Are Losing Theirs"! The Role Of The Abu Sayyaf Group In The Campaign Against Islamic Separatism In Mindanao, Peter Sales

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

[extract] Irascible old Rudyard Kipling was distilling pure wisdom when he cautioned his fin de siècle readers about keeping their heads in a world gone crazy. His adage retains a twofold relevance for those dealing with the war in the southern Philippines. In a situation marred by fear, hatred, and brutality, the calmer heads hold the only hope of achieving peace. Nothing has come from the posturing of trapos (traditional politicians). The process of negotiating a political settlement in the south requires clear-headed vision on the part of some honest brokers and a widely endorsed apparatus to ensure its application.

The Power Of The Pen: Solomon Islands Women Uniting To Overcome Adversity Through Writing, Shayne Kearney

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Indigenous writers of the Solomon Islands, as with the majority of indigenous Oceanic countries and states, exhibit common themes throughout their literary works relating to colonisation, decolonisation and independent rule, the retelling and recording of traditional myths and legends, and issues relating to transcultural confusion. In reading the works of indigenous Solomon Island women, similar themes are evident, however, there is also a striking digression from those themes. For the purposes of this study, the writing can be divided into two distinct periods - writers born in the pre- and post-independent eras. l In both of these categories, it is …

Noisy, Smelly, Dirty Dogs: A Sensorial Autoethnography Of Living With Dogs, Fiona Borthwick

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

There are many accounts of the current strong connection between dogs and some humans. These accounts imply or pre-suppose a strong social-sensual relation between dogs and their humans. In a highly visualised culture how is this social-sensual relation mediated? What role does olfaction play? Autoethnography and ‘mystory’ are methodologies that can be used to address these questions.

Playing With Indexical Chineseness: The Transnational Cultural Politics Of Wuxia In Digital Games, Dean Chan

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Wuxia narratives delineate an imagined cultural China. Although officially banned in Mainland China for most of the twentieth century, contemporary Chinese reclamations of these pseudo-historical and fantastical tales of martial chivalry now circulate locally, regionally, and internationally. New treatments of wuxia—especially in film and literature— have drawn increasing international scholarly interest.1 Nevertheless, the proliferation of wuxia digital games has, to date, received scant academic attention. Over the past decade, the use of wuxia fictions has steadily gained momentum in East Asian games networks, particularly within Chinese language territories. This essay traces a cultural history of the evolution of wuxia digital …

Negotiating Intra-Asian Games Networks: On Cultural Proximity, East Asian Games Design And Chinese Farmers, Dean Chan

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

The East Asian online games boom started in South Korea in the late 1990s. Following unqualified domestic success, South Korean games were subsequently exported to other regional markets throughout East and South East Asia. During this time, game development companies specialising in online games for the Asian market also emerged in China and Japan. This essay proposes that one of the key features in this networked gaming context is the relationship between the adaptation of regional East Asian aesthetic and narrative forms in game content, and the parallel growth in more regionally-focused marketing and distribution initiatives. East Asian online games …